Olympus µ[mju:] 410 Digital

Ease of Use

The Olympus µ[mju:] 410 Digital is virtually identical
to its predecessor the µ[mju:] 400 Digital in terms
of design, so most of the comments that I made in my
review of the latter camera also apply to the former.
The main difference externally is a change to the handgrip
on the rear of the newer model, which is now round in shape,
dimpled and is postioned just where your right thumb grips
the camera. This has replaced the slightly raised area on
the µ[mju:] 400 Digital which served as a handgrip.
The newer version is slightly more comfortable than the old
one.

The other major change on the Olympus µ[mju:] 410 Digital
is the new sunshine LCD screen. I didn't actually find the
original LCD screen on the µ[mju:] 400 Digital difficult
to use, and without looking at the 2 models side by side it's
impossible to say if the new screen is markedly better. Let's
just say that I had no problems with viewing either LCD screen
in bright sunlight.

Internally Olympus have added a new TruePic Turbo image processor
to the µ[mju:] 410 Digital, which is supposed to deliver
more image clarity, contrast and brilliant colour and also
increase the camera's processing speed by up to 30%. More
about image quality later - the new µ[mju:] 410 Digital
does feel a little faster in general use, although not enough
to make you go "Wow!".

Perhaps the most immediate and striking thing about the Olympus
µ[mju:] 410 Digital camera is its shiny metal body.
People who see this camera for the first time usually say
something like "Oooh, look at that"; the µ[mju:]
410 Digital is definitely a head-turner and ideal for impressing
your friends, although it has lost the gold finish on the
lens cover of the µ[mju:] 400 Digital.

The metal body has a greater purpose, however, than simply
being good to look at. According to Olympus, the µ[mju:]
410 Digital has a weather-proof metal body, so shooting can
continue even after the rain has started. It didn't rain during
my test period, and I didn't want to risk pouring water over
the camera to test out how weatherproof it actually is. Even
Olympus qualify their own statement by saying "weather-proof
equivalent to the IEC standard publication 529 IPX4".
I have no idea what that standard is or what it states, but
it probably says somewhere that you shouldn't pour water over
an Olympus µ[mju:] 410 Digital camera!

The µ[mju:] 410 Digital is the kind of camera that
you can pick up and work out how to use within an hour or
so, thanks to the uncluttered and logical design of both the
camera body and its menu system.

The camera body is very well thought out. You will notice
straight away that there is no traditional D-pad on the rear
of the µ[mju:] 400 Digital. Instead there are four buttons
that perform the same functions as a D-pad, allowing you to
scroll through images and the menu system, but which also
have their own specific functions as well. For example, the
top button of the four allows you to select the exposure mode,
whilst the bottom one turns the self-timer on and off. This
ensures that a lot of the controls are available by pressing
buttons rather than scrolling through menus, which makes using
the camera quicker and more immediate.

This clever placement of so many controls on the exterior
of the µ[mju:] 400 Digital means in turn that its menu
system is uncomplicated and easy to navigate. As mentioned
above, the four buttons that form the D-pad have their own
particular purpose, whilst pressing the OK button accesses
the rest of the menus. These include setting the image quality,
white balance, exposure compensation and a sub-menu called
the Mode Menu, which contains settings like the metering mode
and formatting the memory card. So the less commonly used
options are accessed through the menu system, whilst the more
commonly used options are available via the press of a button.

The µ[mju:] 410 Digital fixes most of the minor handling
quibbles found on its predecessor. The zoom lens is still
a little noisy in operation (I wouldn't try any close-range
candid street photography with this camera) and the optical
viewfinder is still too small to use effectively - I used
the LCD screen to compose all the shots that I took. The new
LCD screen, TruePic Turbo image processor and handgrip, plus
the other handling improvements, all add up to a very well-built,
easy to use and pocketable digital camera.